Richard Hatch to return to prison for nine months

Survivor winner and current Celebrity Apprentice star Richard Hatch has been sent back to prison to serve nine more months for neglecting to file taxes on his $1 million Survivor prize, the Associated Press reports. Though he was released after serving three years in 2009 – and had since been under supervised release – he has since failed to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes, and now owes an estimated $2 million to the IRS. Because, according to U.S. District Court Judge William Smith, Hatch had shown no remorse and failed to follow orders, the reality star was sentenced to serve nine months. (He extended the prosecution’s recommended six-months sentence.) “You can continue to proclaim your innocence,” Smith said in court. “You don’t have the option of engaging in this type of game or negotiation with the court. It needs to be severe punishment. That’s the only thing that will deter you in the future.” After he is released, Hatch will need to serve 26 months supervised release as well. Hatch, who has not returned EW’s request for comment, will report for his sentence Monday. When asked whether or not this will affect Celebrity Apprentice’s live finale, NBC only responded to EW, “